This is a little late, but I just wanted to thank everyone for liking and supporting this dumb side project of mine. Thanks for inflating my incredibly tiny ego. I even sat down for an entire week to plan out most of this fic, so apologies on the very late update.
Anyways, it's a Kaito chapter that takes place on the same day as chapter 1. Of course, there's a little bit of kaiao too but nothing too major. Other than that, it's just more plot development.
Idly flipping through random news articles on his phone, Kaito let out a tired yawn. The day so far had been especially boring, from Hakuba's temporary return to England to the color of Aoko's panties. Aoko had also been oddly tame with her attempts to take his head off, and as much as he'd like to cause a bit more chaos for her, it wasn't all that fun unless she got real riled up.
He let his eyes wander to an article titled "The Return of the Modern-day Holmes".
He tapped the link and opened a new page, summarizing the recently solved cases of the famous Kudou Shinichi, who recently returned from a large-scale top secret case that was completely kept away from the media. The article detailed his newest case, a murder of a man by his close friend, and how the detective was able figure out the entire case whilst still on the crime scene. The rest of it was praise.
Kaito scrolled down to the bottom of the page, finding more related articles that were mostly on the detective's temporary disappearance.
He, of course, knew of little Tantei-kun's return to being big Tantei-kun. He had also contemplated on whether or not to hold a heist as a bit of congratulation for getting his body back, since it was only during heists that they were able to speak face-to-face. He mostly decided against it however, since it was Edogawa Conan who was the Kid Killer, not the famous Kudou Shinichi. If he knew anything about Tantei-kun, it was that he would choose to solve a murder over a Kid heist. It honestly hurt Kaito's feelings at how little Tantei-kun seemed to care about his wellbeing. It was like their friendship was merely one-sided. Well, if one could call the relationship they had "friendship".
"Hm? What are you so focused on, Kaito?" Aoko suddenly peered over his shoulder, slightly startling him.
She was close enough that Kaito could smell her shampoo. He could feel his face heat up as he twisted away from her as best as he could in his desk. He still tried his best to glare at her. "Don't sneak up on me like that! And besides, it's none of your business what I'm looking at."
Fortunately for him, Aoko leaned back, but not before she got one last look at his phone before it was shoved back into his pocket. "Kudou Shinichi?" She looked confused for a moment before she brightened up. "Aoko knows him! Dad was talking about him this morning."
"The old man was?" This was new to Kaito. He wasn't even aware that the inspector knew of seventeen year old Tantei-kun outside of his disguises.
Aoko nodded. "He was reading the newspaper this morning and it was about how Kudou-kun solved another murder." She then frowned. "Aoko thinks dad doesn't like how much Kudou-kun's in the papers. He was in a bad mood about it all morning."
That would explain how quiet Aoko had been this morning. He knew it had something to do with her father somehow.
"Well, if he's anything like Hakuba then he's got a good reason to complain." Kaito huffed. "One arrogant detective is enough."
"Don't say that about Hakuba-kun! He's a good detective and I'm sure Kudou-kun is as well!"
He rolled his eyes. Why did Aoko have to defend Hakuba so much? Why didn't she ever defend Kaito?
She continued. "And, if Kudou-kun and Hakuba-kun worked together with Dad, then Kaitou Kid would be caught for sure!" She ended her sentence with a beaming smile, one that made Kaito's chest tighten up in all too many ways, both good and bad.
He forced himself to keep smiling despite the image of Tantei-kun and Hakuba meeting and plotting his doom being enough to give him goose bumps.
"Oh my, wouldn't that be unfortunate?" A smooth voice cut in. "I would be quite troubled if he were caught."
Kaito turned away from Aoko to meet with Akako's beautifully creepy red eyes.
"Beautifully creepy" pretty much described Akako's entire person, honestly. Although lately it was more of the creepy rather than the beautiful.
"You shouldn't let Kid deceive you like that, Akako-chan! He may not be dangerous, but he's still a no good criminal!" Why was Aoko always so passionate about Kid in this way? Why couldn't she be like anyone else and like him? It would certainly make the inevitable reveal a whole lot easier if she did.
Akako chuckled. "I believe he's more of a child seeking attention, if anything. It's quite endearing, don't you think?" Her playful gaze shifted to Kaito, who only narrowed his eyes in response.
"Kid's a man of art." Kaito pointed out. "He'll never let himself be caught, not even by the famous Detective of the East." But he was damn close to on multiple occasions.
Aoko was close to pouting as she crossed her arms. "If only Kudou-kun would go to the next heist... He'd catch him for sure!"
Kaito only laughed dryly.
"Speaking of a heist…" Akako began, keeping a careful gaze at Kaito. "Wasn't an advance notice sent to the police last night?" She was speaking to both him and Aoko, but the question itself was aimed at him.
Wait, what? He didn't send any notice last night. Sure he was planning a few in the back of his head but he didn't have any real plans for one. Maybe it was just some store trying to increase their sales by using his name again or something. Probably not even that big of a deal.
But Aoko seemed to know about it too. "Yeah… And Dad left in the middle of dinner for it too…" She turned to Kaito, tilting her head at the other's complete confusion written across his face. "What's wrong, Kaito? You're usually the first person to know about a Kid heist, didn't you hear about it?"
Kaito blinked and shook his head quickly. "Whoops, I was watching a magic show last night so I had no idea!" He even laughed a little at the end for good measure. It wouldn't be good if Aoko got suspicious or started questioning him about the heist he was supposed to have.
Aoko sighed. "You say you're a fan but you barely even keep up with the news."
"But for hating Kid so much, you sure know a lot about what he's up to." He grinned back.
She sputtered excuses back at him, full of scathing insults and other unpleasantries regarding his night job. He gave her an amused laugh.
He still felt Akako's eyes on him and he knew she realized that he didn't send out anything as Kid, and that he had no idea that someone had sent a note to the police claiming to be him.
"Kuroba-kun." she interrupted effortlessly, putting a perfectly manicured hand on his shoulder. "May I speak with you in the hall?" Though it was her question her tone made no leeway for a refusal.
So Kaito nodded and got up from his desk, telling Aoko it was only going to take a few minutes and followed the witch outside into the hallways.
"So," he let the vowel drag on. "What did you want to talk about?"
Akako's calculative face immediately turned serious once she slid the door closed and turned back to him. "I'm giving you a warning, Kuroba-kun."
He feigned ignorance. "What are you talking about?"
"The fake heist. Don't do whatever you're planning to do about it."
"I've told you a hundred times already that I'm not Kid." He rolled his eyes at her. Like any of her crazy mumbo jumbo is going to stop him from doing something about it.
"The heist will take place on the night of a blue moon and its light will only lead you into the serpent's jaws." she stated. "Don't go."
"Serpent" was all he needed to know.
"Really, Akako, you should stop with all this nonsense talk. I don't have any idea what you're talking about." He shrugged away from her. "Whatever you're trying to say here, it doesn't mean a thing to me." Meaning: he's definitely going to go now that he has a clue to who's trying to bait him here.
She looked like she wanted to put a curse on him, and he was a little scared that she might actually go through with it in order to stop him from going to the heist. "Fine. The moonlight will only lead you to trouble this time." she continued. "However… It appears that another familiar light will be burning just as bright that night."
This time Kaito actually had no idea what she was trying to imply here. He merely stared at her with wide eyes.
"And…" Her face lightened up slightly as her lips curled with a hint of amusement. "If you insist on going, then I'll warn you about the Demon of Light's return as well." Demon? Light? "I wonder which light will shine brighter on you, the moon or the Demon's?"
Demon of Light? What is that supposed to be? He really had no clue, but it felt like he had heard these words from the witch before. He couldn't point out where, but something about a Demon of Light returning felt synonymous to something else he's been hearing about recently. Maybe it was just his imagination.
"What do you-"
"At least, that is what Lucifer told me. May Lady Luck be kind to you on your endeavors." Akako hid another creepy smile behind her hand, laughing softly. And with that, she turned on her heel and returned to the classroom, Kaito trailing slowly after.
He could never fully understand what went on in that mind of hers, but he was glad that she was a friend rather than a foe. And he had to admit that she was actually pretty helpful this time around.
The rest of the day passed quickly as he filled his head with various questions and plans about the fake Kid heist. He should talk to Jii-chan about it as well, preferably sooner than later.
When school finally ended, Kaito hastily headed out the classroom, only to be intercepted by Aoko as she grabbed his arm.
"Wait, Kaito!" she frowned. "Weren't we going home together?"
He sent her an apologetic grin, carefully shaking her arm off. "Sorry, Aoko. Jii-chan said something came up so I was going to head there instead of home…"
"Then Aoko will go too. Jii-san would appreciate more help, right?"
No, he definitely wouldn't. Not when it's about Kaitou Kid.
Kaito stuck his tongue out. "Too bad. He asked for me, not you."
Her frown turned into a pout, and Kaito wanted to hit himself for thinking it was even remotely cute when he had other priorities right now. He sighed. "It'll be fine with just me. I'll call you if something comes up."
Aoko nodded slowly, however still looking unsatisfied with his response. "I guess Aoko will go home with Keiko then. But Kaito!" She jabbed a finger into his chest, surprising him. "Don't cause any trouble for Jii-san okay? Or else you'll see another mop to the face!"
He rolled his eyes playfully. "Yes, mother, I promise."
Aoko huffed, but said nothing more as she turned around and walked back towards Keiko. Akako was still in her seat, sending Kaito a look that was amusement mixed with vague concern. It still creeped him out whenever she showed any emotion other than the default "You're like a bug struggling under my feet and I think it's hilarious" she always had. Instead of ignoring her, he waved to her out of courtesy for earlier today, and then bolted out the room and straight to Blue Parrot.
If his own instincts and what Akako warned him about were right, then he'll have to be prepared for this, if he's going to be walking straight into a trap this time. He's going to need a lot of sleeping gas.
I love Akako why do people not write her more. I love all of the Ekoda kids, actually, despite how difficult it is to write them compared to the DC characters.
Next up is the long awaited heist and the single thing everyone's been waiting for.
